1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally involves the field of technology pertaining to mechanisms for dispensing materials from a storage area. More specifically, the invention relates to an improved apparatus for dispensing ice cubes collected in the storage bin of an automatic ice maker disposed in the freezer compartment of a household refrigerator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide a conventional household refrigerator with an ice dispenser which collects and dispenses ice cubes manufactured by an automatic ice maker to an exterior service area of the freezer door. This affords a convenience for the user since it is only necessary to insert a receptacle, such as a glass or cup, in the service area to engage an actuator which activates the dispenser motor, thereby avoiding the necessity of having to open the freezer door which causes loss of cold air and influx of warm ambient air.
Known ice dispensers are usually in the form of a helical auger which is rotatably supported within the ice storage bin and rotated by a motor through an appropriate gear reduction assembly. Rotation of the auger advances the ice cubes forwardly to the front of the bin, outwardly of the bin through an outlet opening and downwardly through a delivery chute into the receptacle positioned within the service area of the freezer or refrigerator door.
Several auger structures have been proposed for ice dispensers. For example, a helical wire auger formed from a length of solid rod or hollow tubing has been disclosed for both conveying the collected ice cubes to the front of the storage bin and metering the cubes through the outlet opening of the bin. It is also known to use a screw or blade auger in combination with a wire auger, with the blade auger being disposed within an open-ended tube and positioned at the outlet opening of the bin to control the metering of the cubes through the opening. It is further known to provide separate augers for performing different functions, including circulating the collected cubes within the bin, conveying the cubes toward the front of the bin, and metering the cubes through the outlet opening.
There have been problems experienced with the performance of conventional ice dispensers. For example, the cubes tend to freeze together and form bridges or clusters of cubes above the auger and at the outlet opening of the storage bin. Moreover, the augers tend to move the cubes toward the outlet opening at a rate which exceeds the rate at which the cubes are being metered through the opening. This results in a bunching of the cubes as they accumulate at the front of the bin and prevents the cubes from being dispensed at a constant rate. Furthermore, when the dispensing operation is terminated by the user, the excess cubes gathered at the outlet opening of the bin tend to drop downwardly through the delivery chute and into the service area after the desired number of cubes have already been received within the receptacle and the auger motor has been turned off.